1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface fastener in which engaging element yarns thereof are woven into a foundation fabric woven with warps and wefts and warps to be cross-woven are woven with the engaging element yarns so as to fix the engaging element yarns to the foundation fabric and more particularly to a surface fastener in which the engaging element yarns are fixed to the foundation fabric using thermal melting yarns so as to make the fastener stronger. In this invention, the warp to be cross-woven with the engaging element yarn is called xe2x80x9ccross-woven warpxe2x80x9d.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it was not known that an engaging element yarn for forming loop-like engaging elements or hook-like engaging elements could be fixed to a foundation fabric by means of a cross-woven warp in the surface fastener. Instead, it was well known that the engaging element yarn was fixed by applying so-called back coating method or coating an entire rear face of the woven foundation fabric with thermoplastic resin such as polyester or polyurethane in order to produce a strong surface fastener by fixing the engaging element yarns into the foundation fabric woven with warps and wefts so as to fix the engaging element yarns to the foundation fabric firmly or prevent warps at a cut end from fraying when the surface fastener is cut to a predetermined width. These arts have been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.11-244010 and Japanese Utility Model No. 2593380.
In the aforementioned well known surface fasteners, the engaging element yarns for forming the loop-like engaging elements or hook-like engaging elements are woven into the foundation fabric woven with the warps and wefts. Then, the entire rear surface of the woven foundation fabric is coated with thermoplastic resin such as polyester or polyurethane. As a result, the foundation fabric of a finished surface fastener is tensed strongly lacking flexibility. Even if thin resin film existing between weaving yarns of the foundation fabric is broken by blowing air through an air nozzle after the back coating is applied, a surface fastener of good-feeling is not produced. Further, selection of resin and coating control for applying the back coating are not only troublesome but also induces an increase of production cost.
The present invention has been achieved considering the above described problems. An object of a main aspect of the invention is to provide a good-feeling, high quality surface fastener having a durability and flexibility, in which engaging element yarns for forming loop-like engaging elements, hook-like engaging elements or mushroom-like engaging elements are fixed firmly to a foundation fabric through a simple configuration, this surface fastener being easy to produce at low cost.
Another object of the invention is to provide a surface fastener in which cross-woven warps are cross-woven accurately with engaging element yarns so as to fix the engaging elements to the foundation fabric easily.
Another object of the invention is to provide a good-feeling surface fastener in which thermal melting yarns having melting point lower than other yarns, as the cross-woven warps, are cross-woven with the engaging element yarns for forming the engaging elements and the thermal melting yarns are welded so as to fix portions of the engaging elements yarns intersecting the foundation fabric, the surface fastener being easy to produce.
Another object of the invention is to provide a good-feeling surface fastener in which the cross-woven warps are cross-woven with the engaging element yarns for forming the engaging elements and thermal melting yarns are woven as warps adjacent to these yarns and the thermal melting yarns are welded so as to fix the portions of the engaging element yarns intersecting the foundation fabric, the surface fastener being easy to produce.
Another object of the invention is to provide a good-feeling surface fastener in which material and configuration of the thermal melting yarns for use in fixing the engaging element yarns for forming the engaging elements to the foundation fabric are specified so that the engaging element yarns are fixed to the foundation fabric by using various kinds of the thermal melting yarns each.
To achieve the above described object, according to the main aspect of the invention, there is provided a surface fastener woven with the warps and wefts, in which the engaging element yarn for forming the engaging elements is woven into the foundation fabric and the cross-woven warp is cross-woven with the engaging element yarn so that the engaging element yarn is woven in and fixed to the foundation fabric, at portions where the engaging element yarn intersects the foundation fabric 1, that is, at woven points with the cross-woven warp. Consequently, the engaging element yarn can be fixed to the foundation fabric easily by means of the cross-woven warp woven with the engaging element yarn for forming the loop-like engaging elements or hook-like engaging elements. Thus, a good-feeling surface fastener having excellent strength and flexibility is produced at low cost.
Preferably, the cross-woven warp is cross-woven with the engaging element yarn at before and after the engaging element. Consequently, the cross-woven warp is used effectively as being cross-woven with the engaging element yarn so that the loop portion for the engaging element can be fixed to the foundation fabric easily and accurately.
Preferably, a thermal melting yarn having thermal melting point lower than other constituent yarns is used as the cross-woven warp and the cross-woven warp is cross-woven with the engaging element yarn and welded so as to fix the engaging element yarn to the foundation fabric at the portions where the engaging element yarn intersects the foundation fabric, that is, at the woven points with the cross-woven warp. Consequently, because the thermal melting yarn is used as the cross-woven warp, the engaging element yarn can be welded and fixed to the foundation fabric accurately and strongly.
Also preferably, the cross-woven warp is cross-woven with the engaging element yarn and the thermal melting yarn is woven as the warp and welded adjacently to the yarn and warp so as to fix the engaging element yarn to the foundation fabric at the portions where the engaging element yarn intersects the foundation fabric, that is, at the woven points with the cross-woven warp. Consequently, the engaging element yarn is fixed strongly by the cross-woven warp and cross-woven portion is welded and fixed by the thermal melting yarn woven adjacently. Thus, a strong, good-feeling surface fastener can be obtained.
Further preferably, as the thermal melting yarn, composite yarn in which synthetic fiber having a low melting point and synthetic fiber having a high melting point are arranged in parallel or mixed with each other is used, or a mixed yarn in which fiber difficult to melt by heat and fiber capable of being melted by heat are mixed is used, or a coated yarn comprised of a core yarn produced from a fiber having a high melting point or fiber difficult to melt by heat and coating film of thermoplastic resin having a thermal melting point lower than the core yarn provided around the core yarn is used, respectively. Each of these yarns is woven aside the engaging element yarn and melted so as to fix the engaging element yarn to the foundation fabric at the portions where the engaging element yarn intersects the foundation fabric, that is, at the woven points with the cross-woven warp. Thus, various types of the thermal melting yarns can be used, and because the thermal melting yarn is melted partly and part thereof remains, the engaging element yarn is not only fixed firmly to the foundation yarn but also welded to the foundation fabric. Therefore, two functions can be exerted and a reinforced surface fastener can be produced easily.